Raw
Raw Results
- Riddle wins Battle Royal – **¼
- Nikki Cross def Shayna Baszler w/ Nia Jax & Reginald – **¼
- Eva Marie & Doudrop def Asuka & Naomi – **
- Ricochet vs John Morrison w/ The Miz – Double Count Out – ***
- Charlotte Flair, Natalya, & Tamina def Rhea Ripley, Mandy Rose, & Dana Brooke – **½
- Jaxson Ryker def Elias (Strap Match) – *½
- Drew McIntyre def Riddle & AJ Styles w/ Omos – ***½
The show opens with Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville informing us that Randy Orton was unable to make the show and thus a battle royal has been booked to determine the third participant in tonight’s Money in the Bank Qualifying triple threat match. Riddle rolls up with a note he claims was written by Randy Orton but Pearce can clearly tell Riddle wrote it, so Riddle comes clean that he doesn’t think it’s fair Orton is getting taken out of the match. Riddle suggests that he compete in the battle royal and if he wins he goes into the triple threat as Orton and if he wins then Orton qualifies for the Money in the Bank match. Pearce and Sonya agree and Riddle makes his way out for the battle royal.
The battle royal was pretty much what you expect but there are a few things that happened in the match that should be noted. Mustafa Ali helps Mansoor eliminate Angel Garza but then turns around and eliminates Mansoor to continue that story. There is a section of the match where we get a few 24/7 Championship changes as Gulak beats Tozawa, R-Truth beats Gulak, and Tozawa beats R-Truth to reclaim his championship. Omos makes his way to the ring and eliminates both of the Viking Raiders as he gets revenge for what happened to him last week. After an extended ending sequence Riddle nails Damian Priest with a knee strike and eliminates him in order to win the match.
AJ Styles is interviewed backstage and he talks about the hypocrisy of people being mad at Omos for eliminating the Viking Raiders when the Viking Raiders did the same thing last week when they cost him a win in the Money in the Bank qualifying match. Styles says he has an advantage tonight as Riddle is doing double duty and McIntyre is still banged up from Hell in a Cell. Styles plans to wait awhile before he cashes in his Money in the Bank so he can maximize his chances of winning.
Nikki Cross cuts a promo about how she has qualified for Money in the Bank and how much of an inspirational Raw Women’s Champion she could be, but right now she is focussed on Shayna Baszler who is her opponent for tonight. Nikki then talks about how she is not a superhero, but is Almost a SuperHero and then talks like she wants to be called Nikki Ash but it’s never clear whether she is actually changing her name or not as the announcers call her both during her match, so I guess we will have to see in the coming weeks if the Nikki Ash name sticks. I didn’t think about it at the time but Scotty220 (@scottyrenton) mentioned on Twitter that the reason for the possible name change to Nikki Ash could have to do with Karrion Kross coming up to the main roster and Vince not wanting two people with the last name Kross on the show.
The first portion of the match is pretty good with Shayna and Nikki doing some nice work, but before we go to commercial Alexa comes out which distracts Shayna, Nia, & Reginald which allows Nikki to come off the top with a crossbody to take everyone out. Shayna controls the match after a commercial break until Nikki hits a tornado DDT. Alexa takes Nia and Reginald out on the outside and then leaves the ringside area. Nikki almost gets the win off a schoolboy from the distraction of Alexa, but she gets dropped with a clothesline. Nikki finally picks up the win when she escapes a gutwrench suplex attempt and catches her in the La Magistral. I’m glad to see that they let Nikki get the clean win on her own and didn’t have Alexa cost Shayna and furthermore it was nice that Alexa’s magic was limited to Nia and Reginald at ringside and didn’t interfere with Shayna. It really sucks that Shayna keeps getting beat week after week.
After a recap video of the Bobby Lashley vs Xavier Woods match from last week Kofi Kingston makes his way to the ring for a promo. Kingston talks about how helpless he felt last week when Lashley had Xavier Woods in the Hurt Lock and was raking his face against the cell wall. Kingston talks about how people think Woods isn’t up to the level of Big E or himself but after the showing he had against Lashley last week it’s time people start respecting Woods. Kingston says that Lashley and MVP went too far last week and he can’t get the image of the pain Woods was going through out of his head. Kingston says he is going to be Lashley at Money in the Bank and take the WWE Championship from him.
MVP comes out and makes light of Kingston’s remarks about beating Lashley and says they are already looking past Kingston. MVP says that Kingston winning would be a feel good story but he is no threat to Lashley. Kingston starts talking about how Lashley is becoming weaker and how he beat him once and will do it once again at Money in the Bank. Kingston says that every week a part of Lashley is stripped away and by the time he faces him he will resemble MVP hobbling around and trying to hang onto any bit of success he can. Kingston accuses MVP of taking Lashley’s focus off of the title and put it on all the finer things in life but that lack of focus is going to lead to someone taking that title from Lashley. MVP says the only reason Kingston took the championship back to his home country of Ghana was to feed his own ego. MVP respects the optimism but the reality is that Kingston has just as much of a chance of winning the title as Xavier Woods has coming back next week, Kingston says Woods will be back next week because he is a fighter unlike MVP who has been milking his knee injury for the past six months. MVP takes issue with this accusation from Kingston and says if he wasn’t hurt he would hit that ring and beat Kingston’s ass. Kingston takes MVP up on his threat as he leaves the ring and runs toward MVP who throws a punch but Kingston ducks and hits him with a Trouble in Paradise. Kingston tells MVP that he wasn’t hurt before but he is now.
Kofi Kingston cut a fantastic promo about what happened to Woods last week and what he is going to do to Lashley at Money in the Bank. I like how Kingston kept calling MVP on his shit and didn’t let MVP get the best of him on the mic as every time MVP would come out him he would focus on another reason why he is going to beat Lashley whether it be because Lashley is becoming weaker or because MVP has taken his focus off the title. In the end once Kingston finally got tired of beating MVP verbally he turned it physical as he laid MVP out with the Trouble in Paradise. This was a brilliant segment that did a lot to build up the Lashley vs Kingston match without even needing Lashley to be there.
We get an interview with Eva Marie who speaks on what happened last week when she and Doudrop lost their qualifying match after Doudrop refused to be tagged in by Eva. Eva says it was a rookie mistake but everyone makes a mistake and that’s why she asked for a rematch tonight and tonight she will win and the Evalution will continue. Doudrop ends up working the entire match by herself and she fights off both Asuka and Naomi and even fights out of an Asuka Lock. When Doudrop does go for a tag Eva drops off the apron once again and it looks like we could get another distraction rollup, but Doudrop kicks out and then hits Asuka with a senton splash and after dropping Naomi she hits Asuka with a basement crossbody to pick up the win. After the match, Eva grabs the mic and declares herself the winner. I thought this was a good way to continue the story with Eva and Piper as Piper showed that she didn’t need Eva and after the match she had a pissed off look on her face as she isn’t pleased with how Eva has treated her and eventually it will boil over and she will beat Eva’s ass.
We get The Miz and John Morrison talking to an interviewer about how Morrison is going to win Money in the Bank with The MIz’s tutelage. Ricochet takes the mic from the interviewer and also reveals he has Morirson’s drip stick which he uses on both Miz and Morrison.
Ricochet and John Morrison have a really fun match with a couple of standout spots, the first coming when Miz rolled his wheelchair between Morrison and Ricochet and Ricochet steps up onto the wheelchair and dives off with a hurricanrana on Morrison and right after he grabs the drip stick and sprays Miz with it before snapping it in half. The second spot that standout comes when Morrison dives over the barricade to move out of the way so Ricochet can’t dive out onto him, but as he is climbing back over the barricade he sits there pointing to The Miz and as he does this Ricochet springboards from inside the ring and hits him with a crossbody taking them both into the crowd area. The referee starts his count and Ricochet tries to make it back but is unable and both men are counted out.
Up next is a 6-woman tag with the team of Charlotte Flair, Natalya, & Tamina facing off against Rhea Ripley, Mandy Rose, & Dana Brooke. Before the match there is a big brawl amongst the 6 women which was really good but eventually everything cools down and we get a normal tag match. This match was nothing special as it was your typical tv tag match the finish comes when Natalya tries to get a Sharpshooter locked on but as she is struggling Charlotte makes a blind tag and after Mandy kicks Natalya away she is hit with a boot from Charlotte which is enough for her to pick up the win for her team. After the match, Rhea hits a chop block on Charlotte and flees from the ring. This match didn’t really do anything to get me any more or less excited for the Rhea vs Charlotte match.
We get a backstage segment where Jaxson Ryker is hitting himself with the strap just like last week when R-Truth runs up as he is chasing after Akira Tozawa and he stops after seeing Ryker whipping himself. R-Truth asks Ryker if he is unhappy with himself and if he wants to talk, Ryker says he is preparing himself for battle and tonight he and Elias will be bound together with nowhere to retreat or hide. He’s purging himself of weakness so he can inflict maximum pain on Elias. R-Truth thanks him for this lovely information and then asks to borrow the strap so he can lasso Tozawa and get his baby back, but Ryker stays silent and R-Truth runs off. R-Truth and only R-Truth could make something involving Jaxson Ryker entertaining, but I have to admit I was worried at first what might happen when R-Truth approached Ryker who had the strap given Ryker’s reputation.
We got our strap match next between Elias and Ryker and thankfully this was short as nobody cares about this feud. Ryker picks up the win after a sidewalk slam and we move on.
Damian Priest walks up to Riddle who is preparing for the triple threat match and he is acting all serious and then says he is not Riddle, he is Randy Orton. Priest knowing how to crack Riddle tells him that if he sees Riddle let him know that he wants to go get some Burger King Ch’Kings with his pal. Riddle can’t keep up the act and Priest tells him he thinks it’s cool what he is doing for Orton to try and get him in the Money in the Bank match and then he tells Riddle that Orton is lucky to have a friend like him. When Priest walks off Riddle goes back to acting like Orton and even does his pose.
We get an interview with Drew McIntyre where he tells another story about Scottish lore and then talks about winning tonight’s triple threat and going on to win Money in the Bank.
It’s time for our last chance triple threat match to determine the final Raw participant in Money in the Bank as it will be AJ Styles vs Drew McIntyre vs Riddle and if Riddle wins then Randy Orton is entered into the Money in the Bank. This match got quite a bit of time as it went close to 30 minutes and all three men busted their butts to put on one hell of a show. McIntyre dominates early before the match goes to the floor where Styles and Riddle team up to put McIntyre through the announce table. Styles works on the leg of Riddle in the ring while also making sure to keep McIntyre down on the outside. Styles hits Riddle with a brainbuster but he kicks out at 2. Riddle tries to make a comeback but Styles counters an RKO attempt and hits Riddle with a burning hammer, but when Styles goes for the pin McIntyre pulls him out of the ring and sends him into the barricade.
McIntyre goes to work on Riddle hitting him with the inverted Alabama slam and then looks to hit Claymore but Riddle sidesteps and sends McIntyre out to the floor. Riddle knocks Styles off the apron with a triangle knee and then he hits both Styles and McIntyre with penalty kicks from the apron and then he takes both guys down with a springboard moonsault to the outside. Riddle kicks Styles and McIntyre up against the ring and then he hits McIntyre with a penalty kick but when he goes for one on Styles he sidesteps and Riddle kicks the steps full-force. Riddle crumples to the floor and calls for help as he thinks his foot is broken, the referees and trainers run out and they help walk him to the back despite Riddle protesting and wanting to stay in the match.
Styles and McIntyre continue to fight it out in the ring as Styles kicks out of a Michinoku Driver and moments later locks in the Calf Crusher, but while he has it applied Riddle returns with his foot taped up and grabs a sleeper on Styles but Styles elbows the hurt leg to get Riddle to break the hold only to lock in the BroMission moments later until McIntyre breaks it up. Riddle hits McIntyre with a Pele kick to send him to the outside and then counters the Phenomenal Forearm with a jumping knee strike followed by an RKO only for Omos to pull Styles out of the ring when Riddle goes for the pin. Riddle turns around and is hit with Claymore to give McIntyre the victory and qualify him for Money in the Bank.
I thought this was a pretty decent episode of Raw as there wasn’t anything especially bad and the stuff that wasn’t great they at least kept short. I liked the story they told with Riddle throughout the night with him fighting for Orton’s spot in Money in the Bank but ultimately losing as it leaves a nice cliffhanger of how Orton will react to Riddle’s loss next week when he returns. I thought that both the main event and the Ricochet vs Morrison matches delivered and the Kofi Kingston promo did a great job to build up his match with Lashley at Money in the Bank. The only thing I would’ve liked for this episode of Raw was a stronger women’s segment as it felt like they were in cruise control for the creative this week involving the women, but other than that I can’t really complain about Raw this week.
NXT
NXT Results
- Io Shirai & Zoey Stark def Ember Moon & Shotzi Blackheart & Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez – ***¼
- Roderick Strong w/ Diamond Mine def Asher Hale – **¼
- Cameron Grimes def Ari Sterling – **¼
- Tian Sha w/ Mei Ying def Mercedes Martinez & Jake Atlas via KO – **½
- Isaiah Scott w/ Hit Row def Bronson Reed © (NXT North American Championship) – ***½
After an opening video package which covered the debut of the Diamond Mine and the card for tonight we go into the CWC where we go right into our first match which is the women’s tag triple threat match to determine who will face The Way next week at the Great American Bash for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship.
It didn’t take long before the match broke down and we got a dive sequence where all four of the babyfaces got to hit their own specialty dive. The action is fast paced and we get tags happening quite frequently, Zoey sets Dakota up to get hit with the tiger feint kick and then a springboard dropkick but a pin attempt gets broken up when Shotzi hits Io with a senton splash. Ember and Shotzi get control of the match for a bit as they work over Dakota but Raquel breaks up a pinfall attempt.
It looks like we are going to get a tower of doom but Raquel breaks that up to save Dakota and then she drops Ember and powerbombs Shotzi in the middle of the ring but Zoey and Io take Raquel out of the ring. Dakota hits a double foot stomp on Shotzi and rolls through into a double knee attack from Io. Io looks to hit the Moonsault on Dakota but Raquel covers her and takes the move in order to protect Dakota. Ember and Io fight to the floor and Shotzi hits a senton on Raquel. Zoey hits Shotzi with the spinning GTS and then Ember hits Zoey with an Eclipse followed by a GTK on Ember. Io hits Dakota with an uppercut and then she follows that up with a Moonsault to pick up the win. This was a really fun and action packed match like I expected it to be and given what has happened in the past couple of weeks it makes sense that Zoey and Io are the ones challenging The Way next week for the titles.
We cut to the back where Karrion Kross is attacked from behind by Johnny Gargano and is sent into the garage door. Kross gets to his feet and tells Gargano he is a dead man. Later on Kross comes to the ring and dares Gargano to come to the ring and face him and see how well he will fare when he sees the attack coming. Gargano comes out and talks about how he is just attacking Kross from behind like Kross did to him last week and that the ring Kross is standing in is his world. Gargano says he may not be as big as Kross but he is smarter and at that time Austin Theory attacks Kross from behind and Gargano soon joins him in the attack but Kross fights them off and sends Gargano into the plexiglass. Security comes out to break them up but Gargano gets in a superkick on Kross but before Kross has a chance to fight back Joe steps up to him and dares him to try something but Kross decides to leave instead. Toward the end of the night Theory and Gargano try to attack Kross once again as he is trying to leave, but yet again Kross doesn’t stay down as he locks Gargano in the Kross Jacket and then sends Theory into a garage door before speeding off. Joe picks up a helpless Gargano off the pavement and says Gargano may have pushed Kross too far tonight.
We get a video package that informs us that the 2021 Breakout Superstar tournament will begin in 2 weeks and then the video runs down all of the participants from the last Breakout Superstar tournament that became big stars in NXT. I actually knew of this announcement going into the show as Izzy of all people broke the news on her Twitter as they had qualifying matches on the 205 Live taping that happened before NXT and of course Izzy was in attendance as she always is. On 205 Live we saw Andre Chase (Harlem Bravado) defeat Guru Raaj and Joe Gacy defeat Desmond Troy to qualify for the Breakout Tournament.
We go to an interview with Bronson Reed who says that if it weren’t for the Breakout Tournament he wouldn’t have gotten to the level to win the North American Championship. Bronson is then interrupted by Hit Row as Isaiah Scott talks about how he was in that tournament as well and says if Reed was the champion he says he is then he would defend his title tonight against him and of course Reed accepts, this would become our main event of the show. Our phone charger is up to 71% after tonight which means unless it gets supercharged in a week we aren’t getting this surprise return or debut next week.
The DIamond Mine make their entrance as Roderick Strong is set for action against Ashton Hale of 205 Live. We are informed that the Diamond Mine’s Hideki Suzuki is now going by the name Hachiman. Hale tries to take control but Strong keeps fighting back against everything he tries and then Strong slams him into the corner before hitting him with a uranage backbreaker. Strong works Hale over in the corner and after another quick hope spot from Hale we get Strong hitting him with a jumping knee and then locking in a grounded butterfly lock which Hale taps out to within moments. After the match, Malcolm Bivens gets on the mic and says the Diamond Mine is open for business and they are just getting started.
Cameron Grimes comes to the ring next as he will be facing another 205 Live roster member in Ari Sterling. Grimes tells Sterling to kiss his grits and then hits him with a hurricanrana sending him to the floor, Grimes tries to hit a penalty kick from the apron but Sterling catches his foot and pulls him off the apron which gives Sterling enough time to slide back in the ring and hit Grimes with a beautiful springboard moonsault from the inside of the ring to the outside and then throws Grimes back in the ring where he drops a knee to the back of Grimes and then hits a standing corkscrew senton for a 2 count. Sterling works Grimes over with strikes until Grimes reverses a whip and hits Sterling with a kitchen sink. Grimes goes for a slam but Sterling escapes and lands a kick to the head, Sterling goes up top for what looked to be a shooting star foot stomp but Grimes gets out of the way and Sterling runs into the Cave In which is enough to get the win for Grimes.
After the match, LA Knight comes out mocking Grimes and calls him a natural born loser. Grimes says next week he wants to face Knight for the MIllion Dollar Championship, but Knight declines the offer at first and then he turns around and has a counter offer for Grimes. Knight says he will put his championship on the line next week, but only if Grimes agrees that if he loses he will become Knight’s butler. Grimes has no problem accepting this stipulation and then says at the Great American Bash he will win the Million Dollar Championship and then he will go To The Moon!
I thought both of the matches featuring the 205 Live stars were fun and it was nice to see them get some time on NXT and I think the both of them have really cool and unique looks and would like to see more from them on NXT, hopefully they are both in the Breakout Superstar tournament. I look forward to seeing more from the Diamond Mine as I especially want to see what Hachiman is capable of as everyone has talked him up to be a super underrated worker. I fully expect Grimes to lose to Knight at GAB and become his butler if for no other reason than it will lead to a series of funny segments which they can play out for the next month or two before Grimes finally wins the Million Dollar Championship in the blowoff at Takeover on SummerSlam weekend.
The Way interrupts an interview with Zoey Stark and Io Shirai and Candice tells Zoey she better watch her back because Io is a sore loser which is a call back to when Io turned heel on Candice a couple of years ago. Io tells Candice she has never beaten her and next week she and Zoey will become champions.
We get a lengthy promo segment where Kyle O’Reilly comes out first and says what he has to say and then Adam Cole comes down, but before he gets to the ring Samoa Joe comes down to mediate this confrontation to make sure it doesn’t get physical. Cole accuses O’Reilly of being obsessed with him but O’Reilly seems like it is the other way around as Cole attacked O’Reilly every chance he got. Cole does the classic trope of saying O’Reilly would be nothing without him and how he is responsible for every bit of success O’Reilly has achieved. Cole says that the entire world knows that he is the star out of the two of them and even O’Reilly’s wife knows it. O’Reilly tells Cole to never mention his wife again and says he is ashamed he ever associated himself with Cole. Things eventually star to get heated as Cole knocks the mic out of O’Reilly’s hand and despite Joe trying to come in between them they end up fighting until O’Reilly gets Cole in an ankle lock, Cole pleads with Joe to get O’Reilly off of him but Joe just stands there and then walks off but as he gets midway up the ramp he gives the signal for security to break them up and O’Reilly releases the hold before it is needed to be broken up. This was such a long segment that didn’t need to be anywhere near as long as it was as we already get how much they hate each other and don’t need them out there for 15 minutes building on the heat they already have, the main highlight of this entire segment was Joe casually walking away from Cole as he is screaming for Joe to break the hold.
Up next is some mixed tag action as Mercedes Martinez teams up with Jake Atlas in her latest battle against Tian Sha. We get a brawl to start the match but once it gets settled the men start out the match for a couple of minutes before the women enter and Xia takes it to Mercedes as she hits her with a big kick and then puts the boots to her in the corner. Mercedes eventually makes a comeback as she hits XIa with a backdrop sending her rolling to the outside and then Mercedes focuses her attention on yelling at Mei Ying who is sitting on her throne at the top of the ramp. As the match continues after a commercial the men are in the ring but it doesn’t take long before the women are legal once again this time Mercedes takes control as she sits Xia up top and hits her with a double underhook suplex but a pinfall is broken up by Boa who ends up getting his ass kicked by Mercedes and Atlas.
Mercedes decks Xia once again and then turns her attention back to Mei Ying who has stood up from her throne as she goes out to the floor looking to walk up the ramp, but this distraction allows Xia to attack from behind and when she throws Mercedes back in the ring she hits her with an exploder suplex and then hits a spin kick and legit knocks Mercedes out which forces the referee to call for the bell. The camera quickly pans away from Mercedes and solely focuses on Xia meaning this is most likely a legit injury and it would later be reported online that Mercedes was taken to a hospital for further evaluation. They really should’ve just made this a rematch between Mercedes and Xia as the men were pretty much a non factor in this match, although I guess they could’ve played a bigger part in the planned finish but from what we did get to see they added nothing to the match.
We get a face-off between MSK and their challengers for next week Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher, all four men enter the ring and sit down in chairs they brought to the ring. Ciampa says that MSK may be the champions but next week they are the underdogs against them. Ciampa says that Thatcher may not say much but if you look at him you see he is motivated because he is hungry to hold some gold since he has never held a title in NXT. Ciampa then says that nobody elevates a championship like he does. Wes Lee goes to interrupt and this sets off Thatcher who tells Lee to respect Ciampa and let him finish but Wes Lee isn’t having it and at this time all four men throw their chairs to the side and are standing in the middle of the ring. Nash Carter says he and Wes Lee may be the young guys but Ciampa and Thatcher need to remember they are the challengers and next week they will find out why MSK are the champions. Carter says he doesn’t think they heard him so he slaps Ciampa and this once again sets off Thatcher who goes for MSK, but Ciampa holds him back. Ciampa tells MSK that he wants them to bring their titles and their pride next week because they will be taking both of them and then says they got a free one this week but next week they won’t be so lucky and then Ciampa kisses Carter on the cheek.
With one promo these two teams just sold me on this match and it is now the match I am most looking forward to next week as this segment was great, especially the ending part after Carter slapped Ciampa. This promo segment was also a lot shorter than the one we got between Cole and O’Reilly earlier and in my opinion, did a better job of selling the match, but that could also have to do with the fact that we haven’t seen these two teams face each other like we have Cole vs O’Reilly.
We go to the back for an interview with William Regal who gives his thoughts on the Great American Bash and the Breakout Superstar tournament. Sarray comes into the office and says she would like a match against someone like Toni Storm and Regal says he will take it under consideration. Can I just say that this brief interaction between Regal and Sarray had to be the most polite and calm conversation between two individuals I have ever seen in wrestling.
It’s main event time as Bronson Reed puts his NXT North American Championship on the line against Isaiah “Swerve” Scott who is being accompanied to the ring by Hit Row. Swerve spends the first portion of the match trying to get Reed off his feet but Reed is too powerful and nothing Swerve tries is working and eventually Reed press slams him face-first to the mat. Reed continues to have his way with Swerve as he pulls him away from the ropes and splashes him at the same time and after taking the match to the outside for a strike exchange Swerve tries for a sunset flip powerbomb off the apron, but Reed just sits down on Swerve. During the commercial Swerve finally starts to get in some successful offense as he kicks Reed while he is on the apron and Reed is on the floor and then he dives off the apron with a dropkick that sends Reed into the barricade.
The match gets back in the ring as Swerve comes off the top with an elbow to the back of a sitting Reed and then works him over in the corner before hitting the big man with a neckbreaker for a 2 count. Swerve grounds Reed momentarily until Reed gets back to his feet and places Swerve on the apron where he delivers a few chops before Swerve jumps back in the ring and using the ropes for an assist he hits Reed with a German suplex for another 2 count. Swerve gets on the back of Reed trying to get a sleeper locked in but Reed throws him off and then pushes Swerve away when he charges at him, but Swerve comes back with a rolling flatliner for a 2 count. Swerve looks to hit Reed with the House Call but Reed catches the leg and after Swerve slaps him he decapitates Swerve with a discus clothesline but Swerve comes right back with a dropkick. As Reed gets to his feet Swerve looks for another rolling move but Reed catches him and drops him with a death valley driver, but is unable to make a cover.
Reed hits Swerve with a combination of punches, chops, and a bionic elbow and now the big man is fired up. Reed hits Swerve with an avalanche in the corner and then takes him down with a body attack and that is followed by a senton. Reed decides not to go for a cover as he goes up top looking for the Tsunami but before he can hit it Adonis pulls him off the top as B-Fab and Top Dolla distract the referee. Top Dolla charges at Reed on the floor but he sidesteps and Top Dolla goes flying through the plexiglass and then Reed throws Adonis on top of him. As Reed goes to get in the ring Swerve connects with the House Call and then he goes up top where hits a 450 with his knees going into the back of Reed and that would be enough to keep the big man down for the 3 count and we have a new NXT North American Champion.
For a second this win came as a surprise but then I remembered that Reed is one of the guys along with Kross that they are looking to bring up to Raw or SmackDown in the very near future. I think putting the belt on Swerve was a great choice as he has always delivered in the ring and has sold mic skills but now that he has Hit Row with him he is better than ever and I look forward to watching the Swerve’s House era of the NXT North American Championship lineage.
Another good episode of NXT is in the books as I enjoyed the women’s opening tag, the face-off between MSK and Thatcher/Ciampa, as well as the main event title match. I look forward to watching The Great American Bash next week.
NXT UK
NXT UK Results
- Emilia McKenzie def Isla Dawn – *¾
- Tyler Bate © w/ Trent Seven def Jack Starz (NXT UK Heritage Cup Championship) – **¼
- Aoife Valkyrie def Mila Smidt – **
- Jordan Devlin def A-Kid – ***¼
We kick off tonight’s show with action from the women’s division as Emilia McKenzie will be facing off against Isla Dawn.
The bell rings and Isla is still crouched in the corner so Emilia runs at her, but is beaten down in the corner. Isla tries for a waistlock takedown but Emilia blocks it and hits Isla with a dropkick and moments later she will follow that up with a running dropkick and a twisting neckbreaker which gets her a 2 count. Isla elbows out of a waistlock and goes for a kick but Emilia ducks and grabs another waistlock which she turns into a back suplex. Isla rolls out to the apron and drops Emilia throat-first onto the top rope and then continues to work over Emilia as she hits her with a double knee attack for a 2 count. Isla gets a small package on Emilia which didn’t make sense as she was in control of the match and a small package should be used by the person fighting from underneath who is trying to get a quick win, not the person who is dominating the match. Emilia tries to fight back but Isla lands a knee to the gut and then tosses Emilia out to the floor. Isla throws Emilia into the barricade and then tries for a running double knee into the barricade, but Emilia dodges her and Isla crashes knees first into the barricade. Emilia throws Isla back in the ring and delivers a series of forearms before hitting a cutter for a 2 count.
Emilia goes up top and tries for the flipping spear, but Isla catches her with a knee to the chest and then hits her with a Saito suplex. Isla goes for a half nelson suplex, but Emilia slings her off and hits her with a running spear for a 2 count. Isla catches Emilia with a kick to the head and she collapses to the mat and then we get Isla doing some stupid spooky shit as she places her hands on the head of Emilia and then in her best Undertaker impression she rolls her eyes behind her head, eventually Emilia comes to and has had enough as she tries to lock Emilia in an armbar but Isla locks her hands and rolls toward Emilia for a pin attempt but Emilia kicks out. Emilia hits a German suplex and then runs across the ring to hit Isla with a double knee attack to the head and this would put Isla down for the 3 count. After the match, Emilia quickly makes her way to the back as Isla stays in the ring and is talking to her imaginary friend.
This was an ok match but once Isla started channeling her inner Undertaker and Alexa Bliss it took me out of it as there is only so much of that kind of stuff I can take and when there is already someone else in the company who is a lot better at it (Alexa) then I am not going to give two shits when Isla does it and if anything it will make me care less about her.
We get a recap of Walter attacking Ilja Dragunov after his big win last week.
Mark Coffey and Wolfgang are in the back joking around when they are interviewed about having one singles win apiece and Mark Coffey says he has an idea and runs off and Wolfgang chases after him to see what he is up to.
Up next is the Heritage Cup Championship match between Tyler Bate and Jack Starz.
Round 1: After a bit of feeling each other out Bate goes to work on the arm of Starz, but despite his best efforts Starz can’t escape an armbar until later in the round, Starz capitalizes on a missed dropkick from Bate with a Superman pin for a 2 count and then both men hit each other with a dropkick as the 1st round comes to an end.
Round 2: Bate and Starz exchange uppercuts until Bate lands a spin kick to the midsection and then he catches Starz with some European style grappling which leads to him rolling Starz up in a rolling clutch pin for a 3 count to pick the first point.
Round 3: Bate locks Starz in a cravate to start out the round and just like with the armbar in the first round Starz has trouble getting loose from the hold. Starz snapmares Bate into the center of the ring and we get him trying to put Bate down with a shoulder block, but Bate bounces off the ropes and delivers one of his own and this knocks Starz into the ropes and he fires back with a big uppercut that finally takes Bate down. Starz looked to be in control as he hit Bate with a backdrop but then he missed a charge in the corner but when Bate went to charge at him he ran into an uppercut followed by a butterfly suplex for a 2 count. Bate goes for his signature airplane spin but Starz escapes and does one of his own on Bate and then he pops him off his shoulders into an uppercut for a 2 count. Starz runs off the ropes and gets caught with a backslide but Bate rolls him through and goes for the la magistral but Starz counters it into his own pin for the 3 count to tie the match at 1-1.
Round 4: When the bell rings Bate rolls across the ring looking to catch Starz in a small package but Starz grabs his legs and locks in a Boston crab and just as Bate is about to reach the ropes Starz pulls him back into the center of the ring so Bate decides to twist his body to throw Starz off and then he dodges an uppercut attempt and hits Starz with bop and bang. Bate hits Starz with a rebound clothesline and he follows that up with a kapo kick. Bate hits Starz with the Tyler Driver to finish the match with a 2-1 score and with that he retains his Heritage Cup Championship. After the match as Bate is celebrating his win, Mark Coffey comes in the ring and raises the hand of Bate and then pops him in the mouth as his plan is to one up Wolfgang by challenging Bate to a title match.
This was an ok match but nowhere near what we are used to when the Heritage Cup is on the line. I’m sure Bate vs Mark Coffey will get us back on track of having great Heritage Cup Championship matches.
Pretty Deadly are at the PC doing a photoshoot (don’t worry Mandy and Dana nor Natalya and Tamina were around for this photoshoot) and Sid Scala tells them they will be defending their titles against Subculture, but Pretty Deadly doesn’t feel Subculture are deserving of a title shot, so Sid Scala makes a match between Mark Andrews and Lewis Howley where if Andrews wins Subculture gets a title shot.
We see footage from last week where Rampage is resting after the triple threat when Joe Coffey sits down beside him and looks at Rampage and says that the triple threat match didn’t settle anything between them and then Coffey gets up and walks off.
We get another Blair Davenport vignette and this time we find out that it is indeed Bea Priestley just like we all thought it was.
Meiko Satomura comes out and talks about how she is happy to be the NXT UK Women’s Champion and says NXT UK is her home. Meiko is interrupted by Nina Samuels (who we haven’t seen in months) and she talks about how the world needs more Nina Samuels. Nina is attacked from behind by Amale who sends her into the steps and Meiko finds all of this amusing. Amale enters the ring and tells Meiko she wants a shot at the title and after Meiko knocks Amale on her ass she accepts her challenge. It’s nice seeing someone completely new in the title picture and what a better way for Amale to prove herself than by facing off against the legend Meiko Satomura.
Our third match is between newcomer Mila Smidt going against Aoife Valkyrie after Smidt said last week that she would like to face Aoife. Mila goes for a single leg but Aoife rolls away and then she takes Mila down where she gets a 1 count on a pin attempt. We are told during the match that Mila has a background in amateur wrestling which is why we see her trying different takedowns on Aoife. Aoife counters a front facelock with an arm wringer and then stays on the arm until Mila backs her into the rope and sends her into the ropes but Aoife leapfrogs her and hits a running dropkick. Aoife tries to go back to the arm but Mila backs her into the corner to force a break and when Mila charges in she eats a back elbow only to come back with a hip toss and a belly-to-belly suplex for a 2 count. Aoife drives Mila into the corner where she delivers some shoulders to the midsection, but then Mila whips her into the opposite corner where she goes for a monkey flip but Aoife cartwheels out of it and hits some palm strikes before she blocks a whip attempt and hits Aoife with a bridging trapping suplex for a 2 count. Jinny comes out on the stage to watch the match as Aoife makes a comeback with a flurry of kicks and then she goes up top and after staring at Jinny for a moment she hits Peripeteia for the win.
This was a quick match to showcase Aiofe and tease her next feud with Jinny, it also gave Mila some tv time and I from the showing she had during this match I think we are going to be seeing more from her as she was really good in the match.
Kenny Williams gets a vignette where he compares himself to a cockroach as just like them he is the scum of the earth, but it will last longer than everything else. Kenny will take on Nathan Frazer next week. We get a confrontation between Trent Seven and Eddie Dennis as Dennis mocks Seven for never being able to win the top prize and Seven comes back at him by reminding Dennis of how he injured him and as Seven walks closer Dennis backs away.
It’s time for the main event as A-Kid takes on Jordan Devlin.
We get a feeling out process as Devlin goes for the arm but A-Kid escapes and then we get some mat grappling which ends in a standoff. A-Kid gets in a headlock on Devlin until he pushes him off into the corner where A-Kid comes off the middle turnbuckle with an arm drag and then we get both men trading pinning combinations. Devlin and A-Kid lock knuckles and do a nice sequence of moves until A-Kid tries to jump to the top rope and that is when Devlin shoves him down to the floor. Devlin slams A-Kid on the floor and then gets back in the ring looking for a count-out win, but A-Kid gets back in at the last second. Devlin drives his forearm into the back of A-KId and then hits him with a back suplex. Devlin cranks on the neck of A-Kid and when A-Kid gets to his feet he is kneed in the back and Devlin goes for another back suplex, but A-Kid lands on his feet and hits a dropkick.
Devlin crawls over to the corner where he is hit with a running knee from A-Kid who then snaps the arm of Devlin but Devlin comes back with a slingshot cutter back into the ring. When A-Kid is sent to the corner he springs out of the corner with an arm drag and then he connects with a dropkick. A-Kid goes for a single leg takedown, but when he sees that isn’t working he hits Devlin with a bridging fisherman’s suplex for a 2 count. A-Kid locks in a guillotine choke but Devlin gets to his feet and goes for a suplex but A-Kid lands behind him and looks for a bridging O’Connor roll but Devlin turns it into a pin of his own for a 2 count. A-Kid kips up and hits Devlin with a northern lights suplex and that is followed by a standing moonsault but Devlin gets his knees up. Devlin hits a uranage and then he goes for a standing moonsault but A-Kid catches him in a triangle, but Devlin rolls to the ropes to force a break.
We get a bit of a strike exchange as both men struggle to get to their feet and then A-Kid lands a kick that stuns Devlin and then he locks in a sleeper but he can’t keep his grip on Devlin and has to release the hold and then he runs off the ropes where he gets caught with a standing Spanish fly, but as Devlin goes to cover A-Kid he attempts to lock in an omoplata but is having trouble locking it in successfully and eventually Devlin gets his foot on the rope to force A-Kid to back off of him. We get a strike exchange in the middle of the ring as both men are running on empty but A-Kid lands a forearm that puts Devlin out on his feet for a moment, but then Devlin comes back and attempts to hit a flurry of strikes but A-Kid blocks them and then lunges at Devlin with a forearm which takes him down for a 2 count. A-Kid stalks Devlin as he gets to his feet and kicks the arm of Devlin and then lands a big slap before hitting a rolling German suplex but when he goes for the third one Devlin blocks it by hooking the ropes. A-Kid kips up only to be hit with a headbutt by Devlin which takes A-Kid right back down and causes Devlin to fall out of the ring to the floor. Devlin tries to get to his feet but leaves himself open for a tope suicida from A-Kid. A-Kid slowly rolls Devlin back in the ring and Devlin pouches the rope into the head of A-Kid knocking him to the floor Devlin goes back outside where he moves the stairs as he looks to whip A-Kid into them but A-Kid reverses the whip and Devlin leaps over the stairs and then he dropkicks the stairs into the knee of A-Kid. Devlin takes the top off the stairs and slams A-Kid knee first into the stairs.
The match gets back into the ring where Devlin looks to hit DevilInside but A-Kid counters it into a code red, but his injured leg prevents him from making the cover. A-Kid waits for Devlin to get to his feet and looks to hit a running kick, but Devlin catches him and locks in a cloverleaf until A-Kid gets to the ropes which are supposed to break the hold, but Devlin pulls him back into the middle of the ring and this allows A-Kid to counter into the omoplata but he can’t get it fully locked in so Devlin rolls through where A-Kid tries for an armbar, but Devlin rolls through that as well and then bends the leg of A-Kid and this is enough to make A-Kid tap out and gives the win to Jordan Devlin.
This was a really good match as I really like the sequence they had when they were both in the knuckle lock as I hadn’t seen anything like that before. A-Kid has become one of my favorites on the NXT UK brand as he always puts on a great match and although I wasn’t a fan of Devlin at first he has grown on me over time.
This was not the best episode of NXT UK as I thought the opening match was a complete miss and while it was ok the Heritage Cup Championship match didn’t measure up to the standards we are used to from the Heritage Cup matches. It was nice to see that we had three women’s segments on the show plus a vignette for Blair Davenport, NXT UK is quickly building their women’s division up to be just as strong as the one in NXT. Next week we will see Mark Andrews take on Lewis Howley and Trent Seven will battle Eddie Dennis once again.
SmackDown
SmackDown Results
- Big E & King Nakamura w/ Rick Boogs def Baron Corbin & Apollo Crews w/ Commander Azeez – **¼
- Kevin Owens def Sami Zayn (Last Man Standing Match – Money in the Bank Qualifying Match) – ****½
- Liv Morgan def Zelina Vega – **
- Otis w/ Chad Gable def Angelo Dawkins – **
After a recap video showing Edge’s return last week we go into the Thunderdome where Edge makes his way to the ring to address what happened last week.
Edge says that the reason he took some time off was because not winning the Universal Championship at WrestleMania really bothered him as he didn’t see that coming as all he could think about was what a great comeback story it would’ve been had he won the title. Edge says that Reigns gloats about how he won at WrestleMania, but he leaves out some of the details as to why that happened as Edge would’ve won but Bryan prevented him from winning numerous times and he also had to deal with interference from Jey Uso. Edge says he realizes he could go on and on complaining but instead he just realizes this is just another obstacle he will have to overcome. Edge knows he can beat Reigns and even more importantly Reigns knows that Edge can beat him, but he realizes Reigns would never admit that but he has proof, Edge throws to a still picture from WrestleMania where he has Reigns in a crossface and says the look in the face of Reigns at that moment was fear and when you make a man look like Reigns did at that moment you live in his head forever. Edge says he will beat Reigns, it’s just a matter of when it will happen as it is inevitable and he will become Universal Champion.
We go to the back with Jimmy Uso and Paul Heyman and Jimmy tells Heyman that when Reigns gets to the building they are going to put Edge down and plant their family flag right in his back. Jimmy will go on to ask Pearce and Deville for time at the end of the show to beat the crap out of Edge.
Up next is a tag match with Big E teaming with King Nakamura against the team of Apollo Crews and Baron Corbin who is still miserable after losing his crown and at this point, he is quite pitiful. As Nakamura comes to the ring Pat McAfee is going crazy like usual but his freakout this time was the best as he was literally sitting on top of Michael Cole jamming out and at that point, I realized that Pat McAfee is my announcer of the year. This was pretty much any other tv tag match as nothing in-ring stood out. Towards the end of the match when Corbin is in control Rick Boogs is at the top of the stage and gets on the mic to tell Corbin his vehicle is being towed and we see that he isn’t lying when the footage comes up on the screen and this distraction allows Big E to hit the Big Ending to pick up the win for Nakamura and himself. Later in the night, Corbin is walking around backstage when he starts being followed by Rick Boogs who starts teasing him with jokes about things with the word king in them and Corbin can’t understand why Boogs wants to kick him while he is down and then tells him to screw off as he walks away. I like that Corbin is so beaten down and depressed that his hair is starting to grow back as he hasn’t felt like having a haircut.
Bayley comes to the ring gloating about her win over Bianca Belair last week and says that Bianca is weak mentally and is starting to crumble under the weight of the expectations placed on her as SmackDown Women’s Champion, but she needs to get herself together because it would be a shame if she were to fall apart in front of all the boys and girls who look up to her once they are back to performing in front of crowds. Bianca comes to the ring and she is tired of putting up with Bayley because every time she beats her Bayley keeps popping up with an excuse for why she lost and says it’s as if Bayley is obsessed with her. Bianca is ready to end this once and for all as she is over dealing with Bayley and the only way to end all of this is to embarrass Bayley. Bianca wants to put her title on the line in an I Quit match at Money in the Bank.
Bayley starts to laugh until she realizes Bianca is serious and tells her she really did get in her head because Bianca should know that she has never quit anything and then she starts to get cocky as she tells Bianca that if she can make her quit at Money in the Bank then she will quit wrestling. Bayley says it will be no surprise to hear Bianca say I Quit and that she accepts the match. Bianca starts laughing and when asked what she is laughing about she tells Bayley that she thought she was tired of hearing her speak, but she is excited to hear Bayley say I Quit.
I thought this was a really good segment as both Bianca and Bayley are really good on the mic and did a good job of making me want to see them face off once again at Money in the Bank despite this being their third match against each other on PPV. For a second I thought they were going to make it a championship vs career match but thankfully they didn’t back themselves into a corner with that stipulation.
Up next it’s Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn in the feud that never ends and this time they are facing each other in a Last Man Standing match where the winner will qualify for Money in the Bank.
KO takes Zayn down and fires away with punches and mudhole stomping before hitting Zayn with a cannonball very early in the match. KO continues his attack on the outside until Zayn reverses a whip into the barricade and gains control of the match briefly until KO backdrops him into the crowd area. KO punches Zayn back over the barricade and hits him with a Swanton bomb off the barricade. KO lays Zayn out on the table looking to dive off the barricade once again, but Zayn grabs him and throws him onto the announce table that doesn’t break and this keeps KO down for a count of 7. We return from a commercial with KO in firm control as he slaps him in the face and then the fight goes back to the outside where KO sends Zayn balls first into the ring post which keeps Zayn down for the 7 count. KO gets the best of a short strike exchange and then stacks a couple of tables outside the ring and looks to superplex Zayn through them but he fights KO off and drops him throat-first off the ropes and then dives onto him with a tope con hilo only for KO to get back to his feet and roll back into the ring.
KO and Zayn have a strike exchange which KO gets the better of, but moments later Zayn hits KO with an exploder into the corner. Both men are slow to get up but when they do Zayn places KO up top looking for a superplex, but KO hits him with the top rope fisherman buster which keeps Zayn down for an 8 count. KO hits Zayn with a trifecta of superkicks in the corner and then sets Zayn up top where he looks for a superplex, but Zayn slides out and then shoves KO off the top through the two tables KO set up earlier, but this wouldn’t keep KO down as he gets to his feet at the very last second. We come back from a commercial and Zayn has set up another table, KO blocks an attempted suplex on the steps and sends Zayn face-first into the ring post. KO and Zayn fight their way onto the apron where they exchange strikes and KO goes for the Stunner, but Zayn blocks and hits KO with a half and half suplex on the apron, but KO still refuses to stay down.
They get back into the ring where Zayn hits KO with three Helluva Kicks and right when it seems like Zayn is going to pick up the victory KO rolls out of the ring and is back on his feet. KO is out on his feet at ringside and Zayn looks to go for the tornado DDT through the ring post, but KO catches him with a superkick. KO hits Zayn with a pop-up powerbomb and when Zayn gets to his feet KO hits a Stunner, which causes Zayn to roll out of the ring where KO puts him through the announce table and the table Zayn had set up earlier before the referee has a chance to count KO picks up Zayn and powerbombs him on the apron and that is enough to keep Zayn down for the 10 count and with that Kevin Owens qualifies for Money in the Bank.
This match was as crazy and as good as you would expect a Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens Last Man Standing match to be as these two always have great matches against each other and when you throw in a gimmick as we got in this match they turn up the dial even more. It goes without saying that KO doesn’t think twice about putting his body at risk which we saw here with the crazy bump he took through the two tables and more than likely he will do something crazy during the Money in the Bank ladder match.
Sonya Deville comes out to name the next participant in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match and it ends up being a surprise as Zelina Vega makes her return, but as she is cutting her promo about how she will win Money in the Bank she is interrupted by Liv Morgan who is perplexed as to why Zelina is being put into the match before her. Liv points out that Zelina hasn’t even been there for the entire year. Zelina says she has been wrestling for years and can run circles around Liv and can expose Liv for the amateur that she is. Liv slaps Zelina and asks Sonya for a match to prove herself once again and Sonya gives her what she wants. There wasn’t much to the match as the finish came when Zelina tried to hold the tights on a rollup but got caught only for Liv to do it moments later and get the win.
It is great to see Zelina back and it will be interesting to see how she does in the ladder match and after Money in the Bank will she continue to wrestle or will she go back to just being a manager? Now that we know that the fourth person doesn’t have to be someone currently on SmackDown I am starting to wonder if next week we will see Liv take on Shotzi Blackheart or Toni Storm as both were at SmackDown this week to work dark matches and could be coming up to the main roster very soon. I think either woman would be a fantastic addition to the Money in the Bank match as they both are equally great workers and characters and they both have that special It factor that is needed in spades in order to get over on the main roster.
Seth Rollins walks into the office of Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville and introduces himself as he thought they forgot who he was seeing as Edge was chosen to challenge Reigns over him and they explain that Edge won the Royal Rumble but never got his one on one title shot. Rollins rightfully tells them that is their fault as they are the ones who put Bryan into the match. They then tell Rollins he can be in the Money in the Bank match if he beats Cesaro next week in a qualifying match.
We get a match between Angelo Dawkins and Otis who has had his haircut since last week. Dawkins is fired up as he hits Otis with a jumping back elbow and then knocks Gable off the apron but that distraction allows Otis to hit Dawkins with a body attack and then he sends the injured shoulder into the corner and follows that up with a hammerlock exploder. Otis hits Dawkins with the second rope splash and the Vader Bomb to pick up the quick win.
Jimmy is with Paul Heyman in Gorilla and he is ready to deal with Edge and he thinks Reigns needs to know what Edge has been saying. Heyman tells Jimmy that Reigns operates on his own time and he does for those who do for him. Heyman tells Jimmy all he has to do is go out and be main event Jimmy Uso.
We are informed that King Nakamura and Baron Corbin will fight it out once again next week and the winner will qualify for Money in the Bank.
Jimmy Uso comes to the ring and calls out Edge saying he doesn’t need Reigns and can handle Edge all by himself. Edge eventually comes out and tries to talk some sense into Jimmy as he explains that Reigns is using him just like he did to Jey and he has become another one of Reigns’ bitches. Edge says that Reigns set the perfect trap tonight but the trap wasn’t for him it was to trap Jimmy. Edge charges to the ring and throws Jimmy around and then sends him into the ring post and then takes time to set up the steps as he wants them, but he walks right into a superkick. Jimmy sends Edge back in the ring and starts firing away with punches but moments later he walks into a boot from Edge. Edge fires away with punches of his own and then locks in a deep rear chinlock until Jimmy taps out. Edge hits Jimmy with a Spear and then goes outside to grab a chair where breaks a piece off of it and puts Jimmy in the crossface using the chair part just like he did at Wrestlemania to Reigns. As Edge continues to pull back he looks into the camera and sends a message to Reigns. SmackDown ends with Edge staring into the camera as he tells Reigns that he does not stop.
This was a fantastic closing segment as Edge came off as a complete psycho during his beatdown as not only was he sending a message to Reigns, but he was making Jimmy realize that Reigns isn’t going to come to his aid when he really needs it the most.
I thought this was a fine episode of SmackDown as I liked the Last Man Standing match and the closing segment and it was also nice to see the return of Zelina Vega.
In the News
It looks like this upcoming week’s Raw will be the last live show in the Thunderdome as it is being reported by Wrestlevotes and Dave Meltzer that the July 12 episode of Raw will be pre taped and then WWE will be back on the road starting with the July 16 episode of SmackDown.
On Thursday, Vince McMahon along with Nick Khan, Bruce Prichard, and John Laurinaitis visited the WWE Performance Center to scout talent as he is looking to restock the roster after all the releases that have happened over the past few months. As you would imagine those down at the PC were very nervous when they heard the news that the boss was coming to visit, but surprisingly from all the reports coming out, there was no reason to worry as sources described his visit as a positive experience and one person even went as far as to say it was a breath of fresh air for the PC.
A big congratulations goes out to Becky Lynch and Seth Rollins as they got married on Tuesday and to continue with the personal life news Ronda Rousey announced that she and her husband Travis Browne will be having a baby girl.
It has been reported that WWE producer Sonjay Dutt has left the company and is now working for AEW.
During the mandatory training sessions that all of the talent has had to take part in over the past couple of weeks in order to prepare to go back on the road, it was reported that several talents that have been off tv returned to the PC in order to take part in the training including Sasha Banks.
Andrew Zarian has reported that the talent and staff shakeups that have been happening recently are expected to become more common as according to those within WWE it is needed. From a talent perspective, it was reported that WWE is looking to restock their roster with younger and bigger guys which makes perfect sense seeing as it seems like Karrion Kross and Bronson Reed could be making their way up to Raw or SmackDown very soon.
Bray Wyatt has not been seen in months but that absence may come to an end relevantly soon as he is being advertised for the August 9 episode of Raw.
On Thursday former WWE star Del Wilkes who was better known as The Patriot passed away at the age of 59 due to a heart attack. Wilkes made his WWE debut in 1997 and would feud with Bret Hart and the Hart Foundation and even challenged Bret Hart for the WWE Championship at Ground Zero: In Your House. My thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Wilkes’ family, friends, and fans.
Coming up this Week
Raw:
- New Day vs MVP & Bobby Lashley
- Miz TV w/ Men’s Money in the Bank Participants
NXT: – The Great American Bash
- Adam Cole vs Kyle O’Reilly
- MSK © vs Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher (NXT Tag Team Championship)
- The Way © def Io Shirai & Zoey Stark (NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship)
- LA Knight © vs Cameron Grimes (Million Dollar Championship vs Cameron Grimes as Butler)
NXT UK
- Eddie Dennis vs Trent Seven
- Kenny Williams vs Nathan Frazer
SmackDown:
- Seth Rollins vs Cesaro – Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
- King Nakamura vs Baron Corbin – Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
As always if you have any feedback to give whether it be positive or negative please feel free to contact me on Twitter @MTW3589.
